ERA-NET Cofund on Blue Bioeconomy – Unlocking the potential of aquatic bioresources has selected nineteen projects for funding with a total budged of € 25 million. The joint call was announced for projects to explore innovative, sustainable and climate-friendly utilisation of aquatic biomass at different trophic levels, as well as sustainable harvesting, and novel aquaculture production systems targeting a range of existing or new markets. Proposed projects needed to demonstrate industry involvement.
Four priority areas were addressed in the call:
- Priority area 1: Exploring new bio-resources
- Priority area 2: Exploring improvements in fisheries and aquaculture
- Priority area 3: Exploring synergies across sectors
- Priority area 4: Exploring Biotechnology and ICT
In total 83 pre-proposals were received with 35 proposals invited to submit a full proposal. The proposals were evaluated by an international review panel and upon a decision of the Call Steering Committee 19 proposals are selected for funding. The projects should start in the spring of 2020. Most of the successful proposals where within priority area 1 (12) and priority area 2 (6). The projects will explore a wide range of new bioresources such as macroalgae, waste/process sidestream, bycatch and underutilized species. They will be used for various products, including feed and search for bioactive ingredients. Recirculation of water, water treatment and improvement of brood stocks are other areas that will be investigated.
List of projects selected for funding
| Priority Area | Acronym | Coordinator Organisation | Coordinator | Coordinator Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AquaHeal3D | Regenics | Henrik Lund | Norway |
| 2 | AquaHealth | TUHH | Kerstin Kuchta | Germany |
| 2 | AquaTech4Feed | HAO -DEMETER | Giorgos Markou | Greece |
| 2 | BESTBROOD | Nord University | Jose Beirao | Norway |
| 1 | BIOSHELL | ICECHIM | Anita-Laura Radu | Romania |
| 1 | BIOZOOSTAIN | UI | María Gudjónsdóttir | Iceland |
| 1 | BlueCC | Nofima | Runar Gjerp | Norway |
| 1 | CASEAWA | UNIBO | Giuseppe Falini | Italy |
| 2 | DIGIRAS | Sintef Ocean | R Netzer | Norway |
| 2 | ImprovAFish | NMBU | Phillip Pope | Norway |
| 2 | InEVal | AWI | Matthew Slater | Germany |
| 1 | MARIKAT | MATIS | Gudmundur Hreggvidsson | Iceland |
| 3 | MedSpon | AWI | Joachim Henjes | Germany |
| 1 | MINERVA | NUI Galway | Dagmar Stengel | Ireland |
| 1 | PlastiSea | SINTEF AS | Øystein Arlov | Norway |
| 1 | RASbiome | NTNU | Ingrid Bakke | Norway |
| 1 | SIDESTREAM | Sintef Ocean | Arne Malzahn | Norway |
| 1 | SNAP | SINTEF AS | Håvard Sletta | Norway |
| 1 | SuReMetS | UiT | Jeanette H Andersen | Norway |
Funding partners
The first joint BlueBio call is supported by European 16 countries as well as the EU. All partner countries contributed to the call: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. The countries will provide 19 of the € 25 million for the projects, and the European Commission will top up with 6 mill euros.